Torsion-beam rear axles as such are sufficiently well-known in the area of chassis technology. Torsion-beam rear axles, for example, are employed as a standard in modern motor vehicles, such as the Opel Corsa and Opel Astra. Generic torsion-beam rear axles are described, for example, in the European patent EP 0 681 932 B2 and German disclosure publication DE 10 2004 032 08 A1.
Such a torsion-beam rear axle comprises two rigid trailing arms which at their front end are each attached to the vehicle body or an axle support in a manner capable of being swiveled about a swivel axis arranged across the vehicle longitudinal direction and at the rear end are each provided with a wheel carrier for the rotatable mounting of a vehicle wheel each. In addition, the two trailing arms are connected with each other through a flexurally stiff cross-tie which is arranged in front of an imaginary connection line of the wheel center axes of the two vehicle wheels. The torsionally soft cross-tie (“torsion-beam”) also acts as stabilizer as a result of which on driving through a curve when the curve inner wheel rebounds and the curve outer wheel compress the curve behavior of the vehicle can be considerably improved.
In addition to the vehicle weight, the torsion-beam rear axle must also absorb forces which act on the wheels during acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle. More preferably, when driving through a curve, lateral forces occur on the wheel contact lines of the wheels through which the trailing arms because of their design are swiveled about their front bearing points on the vehicle body. For this reason, torsion-beam rear axles tend towards an over steer movement when driving through curves (“later force over steer”), which in an undesirable manner can result in that the vehicle rear breaks out more easily when driving through curves.
In order to solve the problem of the lateral force over steer with torsion-beam rear axles, an active adjustment of the wheel carriers with the help of an actuator has already been considered. Such an active adjustment of the wheel carrier however can only be accomplished with relatively great technical effort since two bearing points each have to be provided on the wheel carriers through which a rotary degree of freedom is provided.
A technically simpler solution is described in the German publication DE 10 2004 032 08 A1. There, the torsion-beam rear axle is not mounted to the vehicle substructure but to an additional axle support which supports itself on the substructure of the motor vehicle by means of an axle support bearing. By means of the additional movement pole defined by the axle support bearing, the lateral force behavior of the torsion-beam rear axle can be specifically influenced. Although a satisfactory solution of the problem can be achieved through this measure, it is necessary to provide an additional axle support for mounting the torsion-beam rear axle which, depending on the vehicle type, is not always desirable.
In view of the foregoing, at least one object consists of making available a torsion-beam rear axle of a vehicle that is easily accomplished, through which the lateral force over steer can be counteracted when driving through curves. In addition, other objects, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary, detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.